Invitation

Dear Colleagues and Bee Friends

Dear beekeepers from all over the world and from my country Ethiopia

Ethiopia has huge untapped potential in the beekeeping sector. Development efforts are underway to improve the sector and unleash its multi-faceted development roles for the economic, social and ecological development of the country.

As part of this sector development effort, we are working to organize an APIMONDIA Symposium from 30 Nov – 04 Dec 2018 in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, and Africa of course, together with APIMONDIA and other key stakeholders in Ethiopia..

We are cordially inviting you to attend this APIMONDIA Symposium entitled ‘The Role of Bees in Food Production’.

Ethiopia is honored to have been awarded this event by APIMONDIA.We are glad to be given an opportunity to address a crucial issue: the importance of bees, and insects in a wider sense, for pollination of food crops and non - food flowering plants – an indispensable service which these useful insects provide to mankind. Indispensible in more ways than one: firstly, an ever more important contribution to food availability and –security. It is difficult to quantify – we are estimating that more than a third of our daily food depends on it, and that the value worldwide is in excess of US$ 150 billion. The Symposium will produce current figures on how valuable this contribution is, in quantity and in monetary terms. Secondly, insects - specifically wild and domesticated bees - pollinate grasses, shrubs and trees in our environment and thus assure seed production and multiplication of many of these species – we call it environmental service. Let us not forget the products which bees provide as a kind on “by-product” of their pollination service – honey and more - to make money, which, again helps to ensure food security.

Our government and myself who has the honor to lead the newly created Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries with the new Honey Directorate are committed to move apiculture up to the place it deserves. This Symposium will help us to achieve this. Your presence here in Addis Ababa is therefore important – to share and learn.

Please come and join our struggle in making the sector stronger, for the benefit of all.